Apparatus for conditioning, preferably drying, of a web-like material



Dec. 4, 1956 E. JOHANSON 2,772,436

APPARATUS FOR CONDITIONING, PREFERABLY DRYING, OF A WEB-LIKE MATERIAL Filed May 28, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. 2. z\ 44/ I;

Dec. 4, 1956 E. JOHANSON 2,772,436

APPARATUS FOR CONDITIONING, PREFERABLY DRYING, OF'A WEB-LIKE MATERIAL Filed May 28, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 :L f A 5 7/ T \f 5 \VIPZ United States Patent APPARATUS FOR CONDITIONING PREFERABLY DRYING, OF A WEB-LIKE MATERIAL Erik Johanson, Klinten, Sweden, assignor to AB Svenska Flaktfabriken, Stockholm, Sweden Application May 28, 1953, Serial No. 358,106

Claims priority, application Sweden May 29, 1952 1 Claim. (Cl. 34-159) In the United States application of Claes G. Allander, S. N. 118,811 for Method and Arrangement for Drying Web-Like Material, filed September 30, 1949, and assigned to the assignee of this application, an arrangement is described for conditioning, and preferably drying, a web-like material by means of fine jets of a gaseous medium, the material during the treatment moving in a substantially horizontal path. This arrangement consists substantially of one or more blast boxes with a substantially horizontal wall confronting the underside of the material and each provided with a plurality of small discharge orifices passing substantially perpendicularly through the wall and located in regular groups, said groups alternating with regularly arranged 'ou'tlet passages consisting of groups of apertures passing through the blast boxes, said apertures being directed towards the same side of the web-like material. The cross-sectional flow area of discharge orifices is desirably less than that of the outlet passages and the number of said discharge passages is desirably greater than the number of said outlet passages co-operating with said discharge orifices. One or more prior known transporting means for the conditioning medium are connected to each blast box. The invention relates to a modification of the prior known, above described apparatus. The invention is characterized by the fact that a number of blast boxes with discharge orifices alternating with outlet passages for the medium are arranged vertically over each other and placed in groups side by side in a closed apparatus and between different parts of the web-like material, the weblike material passing alternatively over and below turning rolls located at each second series of blast boxes. It is an object of the invention to eliminate the disadvantage of the deflection of the web-like material. This deflection makes it necessary to have a relatively large spacing between the blast boxes and the web, and consequently, the casing for the drying device must be correspondingly larger. According to the present invention the distance between the groups of blast boxes can now be made smaller than hitherto and it is possible to decrease the necessary space for the conditioning plant. Due to the fact that the conditioning medium is discharged closer to the web-like material than earlier was possible with respect to the above mentioned deflection, it will now be possible to increase the heat transfer between the conditioning medium and the web-like material.

Furthermore the invention involves the feature that a break in the web-like material will not cause a stagnation in the apparatus. The spoiled part of the web-like material will fall down through the space between the blast boxes to a space for scrap material located below the conditioning casing where the operator can take care of it at the same time as the part of the web-like material located before the spoiled part reckoned in the passage direction of the web-like material can continue its way through the plant for finishing its treatment (conditioning). It is then easy to take the tail of the material through the remaining passage way in the casing and to 2,772,486 Patented Dec. 4, 1956 "ice proceed with the conditioning of the material. The threading through the machine can take place at a velocity of about 30-50 m./s. Afterwards the velocity can be increased to a multiple of this value. In accordance with the invention it is thus possible to take the full technical advantage of the decrease of the time for treatment which up to now has been possible only by using modern high pressure devices in the zone for the mechanical treatment of the web-like material, the so-called wet zone.

The invention will now be more fully described in connection with the accompanying drawings which illustrate an exemplifying embodiment of .an apparatus.

Fig. 1 shows a section through the conditioning plant along the line I-I of Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 shows a cross section through the same plant along the line IIII of Fig. 1.

In Fig. l, 1 designates the casing of a closed drying plant. The designations 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d and 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d and '12e correspond to a number of driven and non-driven turning rolls. The web-like material is arranged to lay agianst said rolls at its upper and lower turning points during its passage through the conditioning plant. The web-like material is designated 16 at its inlet end in the conditioning plant at the lower left corner of Fig. 1. The material is designated 8 during its passage through the plant and is lastly designated 3 by its outlet end at the upper right corner of Fig. 1. A pair of nipping rolls at the outlet end for the web-like material is designated 4a, and 4b. In Fig. 1, 6a, 6b, 6c, 60., 6e, 6 6g, 6h, 6i and 6] stand for an upper row of horizontally arranged blast boxes for the supply of the gaseous conditioning medium, preferably a drying medium. The corresponding blast boxes situated in the intermediate row in the drawing in vertically spaced relation to the upper row of blast boxes are designated 9a, 9b, 9c, 9d, 9e, 9 9g, 9h, 9i and '9j. The upper space between the blast boxes and the ceiling of the casing is designated 5 while the space below the turning rolls 12a-12e is designated 13. The last mentioned space is directly connected with a so-called scrap-space for destroyed or spoiled parts of the weblike material. To a certain degree such spoiling of the material will occur during the t ailing of the material through the machine, which tailing takes place before the web has been properly conditioned. The space between blast boxes located over each other is designated 7 and 10 respectively. At the inlet end for the material a shutter 15 is arranged in sealing relationship against the roll 12c to prevent escape of the conditioning medium from the casing.

In Fig. 2 the corresponding. parts of the conditioning plant have the same designation numbers. In this figure a suitable mounting of the fans 17a, 17b and is also illustrated together with driving means for instance electrical motors 18a, 18b and 18c. In the inlet to the blast boxes heating means are arranged which in Fig. 2 are designated 119a, 19b and 19c. In Fig. 2 the driving means for the upper turning rolls 2a2d is also shown. The turning means consists of the axis 21 and two clutch plates 22, 23 functioning as a sliding clutch. Fig. 2 shows also a platform 20. This platform facilitates the work of the tailing of the material through the condition ing plant. It is assumed that the entire left side of the conditioning plant is provided with doors for the entrance to the conditioning casing during the above mentioned tailing of the material. Such doors will also make it possible to inspect the blast boxes. Said boxes are suitably mounted for displacement in the lengthwise direction and for removing each separately if necessary. The fans and the corresponding motors are, in accordance with a suitable embodiment of the invention, mounted on doors at the right side of the conditioning plant as illustrated in Fig. 2. Each of the doors can thus be swung out for facilitating the admission to the conditioning plant also from this side.

During the running of the apparatus, conditioning medium, preferably a drying medium is supplied to the blast boxes by means of the fans and is discharged substantially perpendicularly towards the web-like material. The conditioning medium is conducted away through the channel-like spaces 5, 7, 1t) and if). The drying medium thus passes between the points A-B, CD, E-F and GH in Fig. 2 and is recirculated by means of the fans.

I claim:

In apparatus for conditioning a continuous web of material, a casing having upper, side and end walls with an inlet for the web material in one side wall thereof and an outlet for said material in the other side wall thereof, a first series of upper rollers horizontally disposed in equally spaced parallel relation to one another in said casing adjacent the upper wall thereof, a second series of lower rollers horizontally disposed in equally spaced parallel relation to one another in said casing and below said first series of rollers, said first and second series of rollers being disposed in parallel spaced relation to each other with the rollers in one series staggered with respect to the rollers in the other series to support the web material and cause the same to pass through the casing in a succession of vertically spaced parallel courses of the material, a plurality of blast boxes arranged in superposed, vertically spaced, substantially parallel rows, with the boxes of each row disposed in equally spaced rela tion to one another between adjacent parallel courses of the web material and extending transversely of the casing adjacent the web material, the adjacent blast boxes of each row at opposite sides of each course of material being co-extensive with the width of the web material and positioned in spaced confronting relation relative to one another, and circulating means at one end of said casing for circulating a gaseous medium under pressure from the discharge side of said circulating means to each of said blast boxes, each of said blast boxes having a wall disposed in parallel confronting relation to the adjacent course of the web material and provided with a plurality of discharge orifices evenly interspaced over said wall area through which the gaseous medium from the discharge end of said circulating means is discharged perpendicularly into contact with the web material, the space between the superposed, vertically spaced rows of blast boxes defining discharge passages extending transversely of the web material and between the ends of said casing and communicating with the spaces between the spaced confronting walls of adjacent blast boxes of each row, whereby said circulating means is operable to draw the gaseous medium parallel to and in the direction of travel of the web material and then transversely through said discharge passages toward said one side of said casing and to the inlet side of said circulating means for recirculation through said blast boxes.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,199,233 Williams Apr. 30, 1940 2,439,722 Dreisel Apr. 13, 1948 2,501,537 Parkes Mar. 21, 1950 2,671,279 Blanchard Mar. 9, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 504,559 Belgium July 31, 1951 525,641 Great Britain Sept. 2, 1940 

